Archive: December 1, 2016

Cannex, the Toronto-based annuity product data, just announced a new tool, based on research by annuity guru Moshe Milvesky, that enables advisors to do side-by-side comparisons of annuity contracts. The first phase allows comparisons of variable annuity living benefits.

'“Many of the broker-dealers are still searching for a light switch in a dark room,” said James Lumberg of Envestnet, who, with Jeff Schwantz of Morningstar and Arjun Saxena of PwC, explained to asset managers in Boston how the DOL rule is impacting their distributors.

At the Money Management Institute Fall Solutions conference in Boston this week, one of the presentations focused on the right and wrong words to use when explaining the impact of the DOL fiduciary rule to existing clients.

'Never before have so many promises been made for the future, both for unsustainable rates of spending growth and lower taxes,' writes our guest columnist, a former deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury. 'Engaging in more giveaways only exacerbates this problem.'

Does automatic enrollment lead to higher consumer debt? Should employers stop sponsoring retirement plans? These are other ideas were floated at the Defined Contribution Institutional Investors Association Academic Forum in New York yesterday.

Securian's new SecureLink Future fixed indexed annuity offers a lifetime income benefit with an 8% annual rollup in each year with no withdrawals (or 200% after 10 years with no withdrawals). The company also introduced a variable annuity for fee-based advisors.

Data Connection

Retirement Income Journal is a weekly, digital-only business-to-business news publication and website for life insurers, asset managers, financial advisors, academics, attorneys, regulators and technology firms worldwide whose products and services help Baby Boomers convert their savings to lifetime income. Established in 2009 and produced by "Annuities for Dummies" author Kerry Pechter, it reaches 7,000 online readers 48 times a year.